Which scenario demonstrates negative transfer of learning?

• A. Ball handling in basketball improves netball.
• B. Practicing running technique for sprinting helps long-distance.
• C. Learning a specific racket stroke in tennis reduces efficiency in badminton.
• D. A skill learned in swimming helps water polo.

Answer: (C)

Negative transfer happens when skills learned in one activity interfere with performance in another because the practiced movements, timing, or patterns don’t fit the new task. Learning a tennis racket stroke builds specific grip, wrist action, swing path, and contact timing that suit tennis, not badminton. When you try to use that same stroke in badminton, the differences in racket weight, swing tempo, and the way the shuttle is struck clash with what badminton requires. This mismatch can disrupt rhythm, misalign the racket face at contact, and throw off footwork, making badminton performance worse rather than better. So this scenario best illustrates negative transfer—the prior skill hinders the new one. By contrast, the other examples show transfer where similar elements help the new task, such as ball-handling skills transferring to netball or swimming improving performance in water polo.